CQUniversity Unit Profile
PSYC12013 Personality
Personality
All details in this unit profile for PSYC12013 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student).
The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile.
General Information

Overview

This unit introduces you to major perspectives of studying personality, including psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive, dispositional, and behavioural. Representative theories within each approach will be discussed with the consideration of both theory and application. Apart from requiring you to familiarise yourself with theoretical materials and research findings regarding personality theories, this unit encourages you to look at your own personality and encourages you to explore the practical applications of the theories.

Details

Career Level: Undergraduate
Unit Level: Level 2
Credit Points: 6
Student Contribution Band: 10
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.125

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

PSYC11008 and PSYC11009

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Offerings For Term 3 - 2019

Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Class and Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Class Timetable

Bundaberg, Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville
Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Assessment Overview

1. Group Discussion
Weighting: 10%
2. Essay
Weighting: 30%
3. Written Assessment
Weighting: 30%
4. Online Quiz(zes)
Weighting: 30%

Assessment Grading

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.

Previous Student Feedback

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from Student Feedback ("Have your say")

Feedback

Assessment tasks felt a little understated and were only sporadically discussed in the workshops.

Recommendation

It is recommended that details regarding each assessment item is made in Week 1, as well as regularly throughout the Term. Reminders of assessment deadlines and links should also be provided under the relevant weekly tab.

Feedback from Student Feedback ("Have your say")

Feedback

The group discussion assessment was only worth 5%, but it required contribution most weeks. Some students reported that the weighting of the assessment could be increased.

Recommendation

This group discussion assessment is designed to keep students engaged each week of the entire term. It is recommended that the group discussion assessment is retained, however, the weighting of the assessment increased from 5% to 10%.

Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
  1. Distinguish the study of personality as a psychology discipline from the talk of personality as an everyday common sense
  2. Identify basic issues in contemporary personality research
  3. Understand significant ideas and themes of major theories within each domain within the textbook
  4. Display certain critical thinking skills in evaluating, comparing and applying various theories.


Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes
N/A Level
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Professional Level
Advanced Level

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Group Discussion - 10%
2 - Essay - 30%
3 - Written Assessment - 30%
4 - Online Quiz(zes) - 30%

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication
2 - Problem Solving
3 - Critical Thinking
4 - Information Literacy
5 - Team Work
6 - Information Technology Competence
7 - Cross Cultural Competence
8 - Ethical practice
9 - Social Innovation
10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes

Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Group Discussion - 10%
2 - Essay - 30%
3 - Written Assessment - 30%
4 - Online Quiz(zes) - 30%
Textbooks and Resources

Textbooks

Prescribed

Personality Theories

Edition: 9th (2014)
Authors: Engler, B.
Cengage
Belmont Belmont , CA , USA
ISBN: 978-1-285-08880-8
Binding: Hardcover

IT Resources

You will need access to the following IT resources:
  • CQUniversity Student Email
  • Internet
  • Unit Website (Moodle)
  • ZOOM
Referencing Style

All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)

For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.

Teaching Contacts
Joseph Meloury Unit Coordinator
j.meloury@cqu.edu.au
Michele Lastella Unit Coordinator
m.lastella@cqu.edu.au
Schedule
Week 1 Begin Date: 11 Nov 2019

Module/Topic

Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis        

Chapter

Chapter 1 & 2

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 2 Begin Date: 18 Nov 2019

Module/Topic

Carl Jung and Analytic Psychology        

Chapter

Chapter 3

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 3 Begin Date: 25 Nov 2019

Module/Topic

Alfred Adler, Harry Stack Sullivan and Individual/Interpsychic Psychology

Chapter

Chapter 4

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 4 Begin Date: 02 Dec 2019

Module/Topic

Psychoanalytic Social Psychology: Karen Horney and Erik Fromm,

Chapter

Chapter 5

Events and Submissions/Topic

Vacation Week Begin Date: 09 Dec 2019

Module/Topic


Chapter


Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 5 Begin Date: 16 Dec 2019

Module/Topic

Anna Freud, Erik Erickson, Dan McAdams, and Ego Analytic Psychology    

Chapter

Chapter 6

Events and Submissions/Topic

Essay (Due 9:00am on the 16th of December 2019)


ESSAY Due: Week 5 Monday (16 Dec 2019) 9:00 am AEST
Week 6 Begin Date: 23 Dec 2019

Module/Topic

Human Relations: Object Relations Theory  

Chapter

Chapter 7

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 7 Begin Date: 06 Jan 2020

Module/Topic

Experimental Analysis of Behaviour: John Dollard, Neal Mill & B.F. Skinner

Chapter

Chapter 8

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 8 Begin Date: 13 Jan 2020

Module/Topic

Social Learning Theories: Albert Bandura, Julian Rotter, and Walter Mischel

Chapter

Chapter 9

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 9 Begin Date: 20 Jan 2020

Module/Topic

Humanism: Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Chapter

Chapter 13

Events and Submissions/Topic

Mid-Term Quiz (Opens 20th of January 2020 - Closes 23rd January 9:00)


Online Quiz Due: Week 9 Monday (20 Jan 2020) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 10 Begin Date: 27 Jan 2020

Module/Topic

Existential Analysis: Rollo May

Chapter

Chapter 14

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 11 Begin Date: 03 Feb 2020

Module/Topic

Cognitive Behavioural Theories: Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck, and Arnold Lazarus

Chapter

Chapter 16

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 12 Begin Date: 10 Feb 2020

Module/Topic

Eastern Theories: Zen Buddhism, Yoga and the Hindu Tradition

Chapter

Chapter 17 and assigned reading

Events and Submissions/Topic

Critical Thinking Tasks (due 10th February 9 am)


Discussion Forum Due: Week 12 Monday (10 Feb 2020) 11:45 pm AEST
Critical Thinking Tasks Due: Week 12 Monday (10 Feb 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Assessment Tasks

1 Group Discussion

Assessment Title
Discussion Forum

Task Description

You will be required to make 5 genuine contributions related to each week's topic (1 per topic), to the group discussion forum.

As you have been afforded the flexibility to choose 10 of the 12 topics on which to make assessment posts, no extensions will be granted under any circumstances for this assessment.


Assessment Due Date

Week 12 Monday (10 Feb 2020) 11:45 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Week 12 Monday (10 Feb 2020)


Weighting
10%

Assessment Criteria

Weighting 10%

You will be required to make 5 genuine contributions related to each week's topic (1 per topic), to the group discussion forum.

As you have been afforded the flexibility to choose 10 of the 12 topics on which to make assessment posts, no extensions will be granted under any circumstances for this assessment.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Submission Instructions
Submit via discussion forum

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Distinguish the study of personality as a psychology discipline from the talk of personality as an everyday common sense
  • Identify basic issues in contemporary personality research


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Information Technology Competence

2 Essay

Assessment Title
ESSAY

Task Description

Objectives

The purpose of this assessment is to give you the opportunity to explore a selected area of personality theory in greater depth. In general this will involve comprehensive reading of primary sources (wherever possible), a critical approach to the material, and the development of an argument reflecting students’ own reasoning and viewpoint about the topic.

Details

You must choose ONE (1) topic question from the following list:

1. Can Karen Horney be considered a true feminist? Evaluate her work and contributions to personality theory and compare it to the ideas/theory of modern Feminist psychology (e.g. Chodorow, Klein, The Stone Center Group).

2. How do traditional Eastern theories of personality differ from those of Western psychology? Compare the Buddhist or Hindu approach to personality with one of the theorists/theories discussed in this course. How might diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems differ between the two approaches? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

3. Is free will an illusion? Do external forces outside of our control predominately determine our behaviour or do individuals have the capacity to influence the course of their lives and personality development? Compare Skinner’s Behaviourist perspective with the Social Learning theory of Albert Bandura and ONE (1) other theory/theorist from this course (*note, Humanism or Zen Buddhism might be good theories to consider).


Assessment Due Date

Week 5 Monday (16 Dec 2019) 9:00 am AEST


Return Date to Students

Week 7 Monday (6 Jan 2020)


Weighting
30%

Assessment Criteria

Essay Structure

An essay usually comprises three main sections: an introduction, body and conclusion, with an abstract and a list of references.

· Title: Give your essay a concise but informative title. Avoid using the essay topic question as the title. Your title page should follow APA guidelines but no cover page is required as submission is electronic.

· Abstract: Your abstract should be between 150-300 words. Highlight the aim or purpose of your work, summarise your major themes and arguments and highlight your key conclusion/s. The abstract should be placed as a single un-indented block of text on a separate page after the title page. The heading should be centred but un-bolded.

· Introduction: A brief description of the area to be discussed along with a clear statement of major themes and details of your key arguments. You may choose to outline any key terms to which y0ou will repeatedly refer throughout the essay. The essence of the introduction is to provide your reader with a clear road map of your work. It informs your reader what to expect in the body of your essay. A heading is not necessary.

· Body: This is the main part of your essay. The most important factor in the body is how you choose to organise your material. This is largely personal choice however, it is expected that you shall systematically organise your information in a coherent, logical and integrated manner. Successful organisation of the body of your essay will convince your reader that your arguments are articulate and well grounded regardless of whether or not they agree with your viewpoint. A smooth flow through appropriate use and arrangement of paragraphs is helpful to this goal. Especially important are the links between paragraphs. Subheadings may be used if you wish but if you choose to do so you must use the correct levels of headings as shown in the APA Publication Manual 6th ed. (2009), p. 61-62.

· Conclusion: This is where you summarise your main points to conclude your work. It is also a chance to leave your reader with the overriding message you wish your work to convey. This section is usually no more than 2 paragraphs and no new information should be introduced here.

· References: This is not a bibliography; only include sources that you have cited in-text. The list of references indicates the depth of your research. An essay with a single reference is not sufficient in most cases; yet an extremely lengthy reference list with many irrelevant sources will not be considered favourably either. There is no set number of references but it is unlikely that you’ll be able to make a convincing argument with less than 10 or so references.

· It is expected that you will use peer-reviewed books and journal articles as well as other proper sources. Wikipedia, Ask.com, Sparknotes etc. are not considered proper academic references. Likewise there is a stipulation in this course that you do not use the set text book as a reference. This inevitably upsets some students but one of the aims of the course is to foster skills in reviewing and researching the literature. Note that the textbook has a large reference list that may provide a good starting point for your research and consulting it is not only within the course rules but is encouraged. Additionally other textbooks on personality or advanced level psychology topics may be used (just avoid general first year textbooks).


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Submission Instructions
Submit in a word document through the moodle assessment block under "Essay".

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Distinguish the study of personality as a psychology discipline from the talk of personality as an everyday common sense
  • Identify basic issues in contemporary personality research


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Critical Thinking

3 Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Critical Thinking Tasks

Task Description

Objectives

The purpose of this assessment is for you to critically examine and demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of relevant personality theories.

Task:

There will be five (5) critical thinking tasks that have been adapted from your text book chapters available in Week 5 on the Unit Moodle site. You are required to select and complete a total of three (3) of the critical thinking tasks available between Week 5 to Week 11. Each of the critical thinking tasks should be between 400 - 500 words. Additional instructions pertaining to the structure of the critical thinking task will be provided to you in Week 1 on the Unit Moodle site. You are required to use appropriate APA formatting in-text and for your referencing. Please submit the assessment via the Unit Moodle site as a Word doc or docx file.


Assessment Due Date

Week 12 Monday (10 Feb 2020) 9:00 am AEST


Return Date to Students

Exam Week Friday (21 Feb 2020)


Weighting
30%

Assessment Criteria

Each of the three (3) critical thinking tasks are worth a maximum of 20 marks. The total marks for this assessment is 60 marks.

You will be assessment on the following criteria

  • On topic, concise and all parts of the questions addressed
  • Theoretical and conceptual knowledge demonstrated
  • Evidence of critical evaluation and discussion
  • Overall readability/flow of writing
  • Correct APA Format in-text, reference list and relevance of support

All three (3) critical thinking tasks are due as a collective


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Submission Instructions
submit the assessment via the Unit Moodle site as a Word doc or docx file.

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Understand significant ideas and themes of major theories within each domain within the textbook
  • Display certain critical thinking skills in evaluating, comparing and applying various theories.


Graduate Attributes
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy

4 Online Quiz(zes)

Assessment Title
Online Quiz

Task Description

Weighting 30%

100 Multiple choice questions

90 minutes to complete the quiz.

All questions have equal weight.

You will only have 1 attempt at this exam. Once you begin, you cannot repeat the exam but you can go back to previous question BEFORE you press the final 'submit' button. You will receive your grade out of 100 immediately after you complete the exam.


Number of Quizzes

1


Frequency of Quizzes

Other


Assessment Due Date

Week 9 Monday (20 Jan 2020) 11:45 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Week 11 Monday (3 Feb 2020)


Weighting
30%

Assessment Criteria

100 Multiple choice questions

90 minutes to complete the quiz

All questions have equal weight.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Understand significant ideas and themes of major theories within each domain within the textbook
  • Display certain critical thinking skills in evaluating, comparing and applying various theories.


Graduate Attributes
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Technology Competence

Academic Integrity Statement

As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.

Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.

When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.

Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.

As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.

What is a breach of academic integrity?

A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.

Why is academic integrity important?

A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.

Where can I get assistance?

For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.

What can you do to act with integrity?